The product contains GTB1, a green tea probiotic strain (Lactobacillus plantarum, APsulloc) obtained from fermented Jeju organic green tea leaves.
GTB1 was jointly discovered by Amorepacific and Professor Wilhelm Holzapfel, president of the International Committee on Food Microbiology and Hygiene (ICHMH), and patented by the company.
A recent study by Holzapfel and his team found that GTB1 have the potential to decrease the level of inflammation factors in the stomach. The findings were published in the Probiotics and Antimicrobial Proteins journal.
According to Youngho Park, head of Amorepacific R&D Center and green tea probiotics research center: “The unique benefit of (this) green tea probiotics strain is that it survives and persists better in the intestinal tract than conventional strains and has excellent antibacterial, antibiotic resistant property according to genome analysis.”
Greentea Biotics
The Greentea Biotics supplement contains GTB1 and six other types of composite probiotics.
Park told NutraIngredients-Asia, the product also contains an essential mineral, zinc as well as prebiotics and dietary fibre from green tea to help increase the proliferation of probiotics in the human body and ensure a strong immune system.
“The product comes in a snow granule powder format which melt as you soon as you consume it and it is green-grape flavoured to appeal to people of all ages from children to older generations.
“Quadruple-coating micro capsule technology is applied to this product, improving the probiotics survival rate during its passage to the intestines,” he explained.
At present, the firm is focusing on the domestic market.
Adding to products developed using research of green tea, Amorepacific has another green tea health supplement called VITALBEAUTIE’s METAGREEN which is available in South Korea through the Amorepacific mall (online) or door-to-door sales.
The product contains 360mg of green tea catechins said to help lower body fat and blood cholesterol common in people with high-sugar, high-carb, and high-fat diets.
“It contains CATEPLUS, our original combination of three types of ingredients from green tea, which includes not only green tea catechins and vitamin C but also green tea flavanol and green tea polysaccharide as secondary ingredients which are rare components that account for only 1% of the green tea leaf,” Park explained.
Research drive
Amorepacific recently established its green tea probiotics research centre to deepen the study of Lactobacillus found in green tea, and develop new health foods, cosmetics and other products. The centre will also expand research into microbiome.
Last year, Amorepacific’s R&D Center opened two new research facilities, the anti-pollution research centre and the Sulwhasoo herbal medicinal science research centre.
